Business Mathematics and Informatics: a Case Study of

Curriculum Restructuring at the North West University in South

Africa

Kees Boersma

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

fk.boersma@fsw.vu.nl

A Mutual Agreement…

In reference to the joint conversations between PU and ASBA with respect to the alliance in order to start up a course on Business Mathematics and Informatics at the University and the use of it by us, we gladly want to confirm the approval by the ABSA-Committee to financially cover the estimated costs of the course. We will evaluate the collaboration after 5 years from now.

(Letter from ABSA Bank to the rector of the PU, 3 February 1997; Archives of NWU).

Overall research question

How do organizational actors implement and give meaning to ideas and policies of Higher Education in their local situation?

In my approach I use theories from the fields of Science and Technology Studies, Higher Education Research and Organization Studies:

- Mode2 (Gibbons), heterogeneity of HE (e.g. Rip) and the entrepreneurial university (Clark) as empirical questions,

- institutionalization patterns (DiMaggio) and travelling of ideas (Czarniawska and Joerges),

- sensemaking processes (Weick) in a actor-network approach (Callon and others).

Specific research questions

Why and how did the local policymakers of the South African North West University (NWU) ‘invent’ and implement Business Mathematics and Informatics (BMI), which parties became involved and how did BMI affect the research and curriculum of the faculty of Natural Sciences?

- What is Business Mathematics and Informatics?

- What parties became involved and how do the different relevant actors give meaning to BMI?

- What is the outcome of BMI at the NWU?

Co-authors of the paper: Carools Reinecke and Michael Gibbons

The inter-disciplinary profile

Research in the context of application

The context: motives for implementing BMI internationally

Practical: declining amount of students in mathematics,

Policy: commodification of scientific activities: interrelationship between academia and industry (in a Mode 2 fashion),

Processes:

- standardization and modeling within disciplines,

- sector-specific mathematical and statistical analysis (e.g. within the financial industry: risk analysis and the Basel regulations).

BMI at the North West University

The NWU is the outcome of a merger:

Potchefstroom campus (Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education) since 1869. ‘In 1998 the Statute of the PUK was completely rewritten to enable the PUK to continue to fulfill its important role as part of the single, co-ordinated system of higher education in South Africa, while reserving its institutional culture of Christian higher education, based on its original foundation’ (website).

Mafikeng campus

Vaal Triangle campus

Campus 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Mafikeng 7674 8667 9652 9001 8488 8966

Potchefstroom 23875 25606 27485 26391 26849 41484

Vaal Triangle 1 567 2123 3008 3204 3372 3354

Total 33116 36396 40145 38596 38709 53804

Number of students enrolled per campus

These numbers are including distance students

Policy: NWU as a Mode 2 University

Mode 2: a change instrument at the NWU

BMI in the context of South Africa

The actors:

HE policy of the South African government after the apartheid,

The local policy of the NWU as a HE institute,

The policy of the ABSA Bank.

South African GOVERNMENT

Challenge Policy Responses

• Nation building

The rainbow-nation as the ideal (Mandela, 1994)  

• Transformation

The transformation of higher education specifically relates to redress of past inequities, to serve a new social order, to meet pressing national needs and to respond to new realities and opportunities. (Bengu, 1997). 

• A national culture:

The Constitution of South Africa, Act no 108 of 1996. *Comprehensive initiatives

The production of a new comprehensive policy for higher education through an extensive process of investigation and consultation.

Education White Paper 3 - A Programme for Higher Education Transformation, Government Gazette, No. 18207, of 15 August 1997.

• New Resources for funding HE institutes

The implementation of a new funding framework for the allocation of subsidy to institutions.

Directed resources are made available for niche areas as defined in programmes like THRIP (Bok Marais)

North West UNIVERSITYChallenge Policy Responses

• Regulation of higher education

The act includes a preamble of 10 intensions, of which one intention encourages institutions to respond to the human resource, economic and developmental needs of the Republic. 

• Merger

The Minister of Education 2002 amends section 23(1) of the higher education act to enable him to merge institutions of higher education. NWU is the outcome of a merger.

* Statute of the PU

The Council of the PU approved a new statute for the University to comply with the requirements of the new higher education act.

* Decision of the Council

PU's Council decided on 27 June 2002 to accept in principle the unavoidability of the merger with UNE, but then with other modalities and different timeframes than those appearing in the notices.

* Vision and strategy

A new vision statement and strategic plan was developed and implemented. Reference to quality, the entrepreneurial approach and societal responsiveness. Focus Areas for advanced education and research

including BMI. • Unity in diversity

The physical size, stage of development and educational offerings of the components of the merged institutions differ(ed) extensively.

Processes: BMI at the NWU

Declining amount of students at the Faculty of Natural Sciences

Institutionalization: BMI at NWU as part of an international network:

- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (inspirator),

- Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (benchmark).

Local networks: relations with the ABSA bank,

BMI as a new Focus Area.

ABSA BANKChallenge Policy Responses

•National regulation

Diversification of the employees (due to the 1997 South African Labour Relations Act and the Bill on Employment Equity)

•International regulation

The Basel accords contain fundamental innovations to introduce greater risk sensitivity into the accord. 

•Amalgamation

Leaders at the parochial banks in the South Africa of the beginning 1990’s realized that size is the name in modern banking. The leaders took the road of amalgamation of small banks, which became Amalgamated Banks of South Africa (ABSA). * Financial risk management

Risk management may be defined as the process of protecting one’s person or organization intact in terms of assets and income directed by quantitative financial models.

•A Centre for BMI

The initiative of PUCHE to direct the focus in its mathematical and IT academics towards BMI opened a unique opportunity for ABSA to get important risk-related topics researched, as well as securing the appointment of new experts in this field.

The centre is another possible means to meet the government’s demand to hire more black employees.

The center BMI at the NWU

The growth of student numbers

 

BMI + Actuarial Total

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

35019

98

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Year

Stu

den

ts p

er Y

ear Y5

Y4

Y3

Y2

Y1

Client organization

# Students per Year Total #

  1998-00

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007  

                   

ABSA 8 5 8 11 9 7 10 8 66 (52%)

                   

Other Banks

    2 8 9 3 7 6 35 (28%)

                   

Other Comp.

1   1 2 8 4 3 6 25 (20%)

                   

TOTAL 9 5 11 21 26 14 20 20 126 (100%)

Distribution of alumni of the Centre for BWI

38%

23%5%

3%

19%

8% 4% Absa

Banks

Unis

IT Vendors

Fin Con

Int Bank

Cons

Research: A comparison between the publication output by the BMI Focus Area for the period 1996 - 1998 (triangle to the left) and the period 2002 - 2004 (triangle to the right). The numbers at the bottom of the triangles indicate the total publication output. The publications purely in the fields of business sciences (B), mathematical sciences (M) or information sciences (I) were counted, and placed in the circles at the respective B, M or I corners.

Discussion: heterogeneity at BMI and NWU!?

Two major problems:

1) BMI is very much dependent on the cooperation with the financial industry (esp. ABSA),

2) The NWU still struggles with the past.

Business orientation at NWU/BMIMore News about the Centre (http://www.puk.ac.za/fakulteite/natuur/bwi/index_e.html):

• BMI Research results in the founding of a new company [Read more ] • Bond Exchange of SA and Centre for BMI sign memorandum of understanding. [Read more] • Prof. PJ de Jogh place a leading roll in the establishment of the GARP Executive Committee of SA. [Read more] • Professor Machiel Kruger associated with the Centre for BMI, who win the 2005 SAS Academic Intelligence Award - developed a Sudoku Puzzle-solver using SAS. [Read more] •Professor Dawie de Jongh on the Editorial Board of GARP Digital Library. [Read more] •Absa signs two contracts with NWU's Centre for BMI. [Read more]

NWU in the context of South Africa

‘This NWU innovation, further, takes places within a highly racialised university community that remains deeply divided and in which the knowledge roots of the institution (and that is what it is) continues to observe deeply held Christian National beliefs, epistemologies and practices; to think that a business-oriented mathematics program in such a context would suddenly render liberating outcomes on matters of equity and diversity is, quite frankly, naive.’

A remark of a reviewer to an earlier version.

Discussion and conclusion

Mode 2 as a policy instrument and as a sensitizing concept,

BMI is the outcome of a balancing act:

- mathematic research and education became more heterogeneous but also focussed on the financial sector,

- conserving the own identity at Potchefstroom and the pressure towards the integration of three campuses,

The outcome of BMI: ABSAdized scholarship at the NWU Centre for BMI,

NWU (should) enrich the academic portfolio in more heterogeneous ways (Rip).

Number of students enrolled per race at NWU

Race 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Asian 283 325 321 338 616 898

Black 20131 21714 24969 23454 22412 32606

Coloured 791 1050 1255 1195 1220 1577

White 10300 11447 12662 13389 14288 18694

Other 1611 1860 938 220 173 29

Total  33116  36396  40145 38596 38709 53804 

 

Number of students enrolled per race at Mafikeng

 

Race 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Asian 27 30 27 20 18 21

Black 7600 8536 9592 8914 8305 8107

Coloured 16 57 18 26 53 72

White 31 44 15 41 108 762

Other 0 0 0 0 4 4

Total 7674 8667 9652 9001 8488 8966

Number of students enrolled per race at Potchefstroom

 

Race 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Asian 220 254 245 256 526 804

White 9333 10493 11596 12166 12914 16651

Coloured 739 946 1202 1127 1116 1448

Black 11972 12065 13747 12747 12182 22557

Other 1611 1848 695 95 111 24

Total 23875 25606 27485 26391 26849 41484 

Number of students enrolled per race at Vaal Triangle

 

Race 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Asian 36 41 49 62 72 73

White 936 910 1051 1182 1266 1281

Coloured 36 47 35 42 51 57

Black 559 1113 1630 1793 1925 1942

Other 0 12 243 125 58 1

Total 1567  2123  3008 3204 3372 3354